On February 23, the National Endowment for Democracy will be hosting an event with Francis Fukuyama, Larry Diamond, and Marc F. Plattner, to discuss their new book.

The rise of populism in new democracies, especially in Latin America, has brought renewed urgency to the question of how liberal democracy deals with issues of poverty and inequality. Citizens who feel that democracy failed to improve their economic condition are often vulnerable to the appeal of political leaders with authoritarian tendencies. To counteract this trend, liberal democracies must establish policies that will reduce socioeconomic disparities without violating liberal principles, interfering with economic growth, or ignoring the consensus of the people.

Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy addresses the complicated philosophical and moral issues surrounding the distribution of economic goods in free societies as well as the empirical relationships between democratization and trends in poverty and inequality. This volume also discusses the variety of welfare-state policies that have been adopted in different regions of the world. During this panel discussion, the speakers will give special attention to the relationship between poverty, inequality, and democracy in Latin America, Africa, and postcommunist Europe.